Dedicated to the Preservation and Restoration of the Whole of Creation: Humans - Animals - Environment
"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31)

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Table of Contents

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 01)
The purple loosestrife is one of about 10 species of loosestrife known to exist
in the United States. Most of them grow south of our location. This
species of purple loosestrife can be identified by the broad base of its
lanceolate leaves, which grow opposite one another, or sometimes in a whorl of three leaves.

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 04)
The flowers of the purple loosestrife develop in a whorl around a spike at the
top of the stock. There are three varieties of the purple loosestrife.
This one has a long pistil and short stamens. In the second variety, the
stamens and pistil are at the same level; and in the last one, the pistil is
short and the stamens are long.

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 05)
An immigrant from Europe, the purple loosestrife has crowded out other species
of plants. It adapts itself well to fields and to wetlands, where the
purple loosestrife has crowded out food for waterfowl, making the wetlands less
productive. But even with its problems, it adds beauty to this and other fields.

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 06)
This purple loosestrife has gone to seed. The young leafy sprouts of the
purple loosestrife were eaten as a vegetable when other food was is short
supply. The astringent qualities of the purple loosestrife were also
useful in treating chronic diarrhea.

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 08a)
This close-up photo of a portion of the stalk of a purple loosestrife shows the
flowers just beginning to emerge from the the calyx. The left side of the
photo has captured what appears to be an example of the type of flower in which
the stamens and pistil are the same length.

(Loosestrife, Purple (Lythrum salicaria) - 12)
This bee's eye view of the center of one of the purple loosestrife flowers shows
that it's the type that has stamens longer than the pistil. Even though
the literature states that purple loosestrife have 12 stamens, we have been able
to identify only 6 in this flower.

Presented here are just a few of the countless components of God's creation.
Just as we cannot have human and animal life without water and plants, neither
can we have lasting peace without love and compassion. It is our hope and
prayer that this series will motivate people to live and act in a cruelty-free
manner; that we would no longer hurt or destroy each other, the animals or our
environment.

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